Sanitary container



Feb. 23, 1937. 3 WR|GHT 2,071,486

SANITARY CONTAINER Filed April 24, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

John J. Wrzyhz BY ATTORNEY.

J. s. WRIGHT 2,071,486

SANI TARY CONTAINER Feb. 23, 1937.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 24, 1954 FIG. 4

1' N VEN TOR.

A TTGRNEY.

Feb. 23, 1937. J. s. WRIGHT SANITAHY CONTAINER Filed Ap ril 24, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 18 @2121 I'm. ,21 v T INVENTOR.

Jam 1 Wfgiai BY ATTORNEY,

Patented Feb. 23, 1937 UNITD STATES AENT a;

3 Claims.

My invention relates to an improvement in sanitary containers. The object of my invention is to provide a sanitary container, the container proper of which is concealed within a housing to hide from view the contents of the container. Another object is to provide a sanitary container which may be sterilized. Another object is to provide a sanitary container having a housing and a cover therefor; with an opening having a closure therefor that can be opened by a foot pedal. Another object is to provide a container of the kind mentioned in which the container proper can be readily removed and replaced. Another object is to provide a container of the kind mentioned, which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture. Another object is to provide a sanitary container of the kind mentioned which is neat and clean in appearance. These and other objects will be more fully explained as this description progresses.

' Now referring to the drawings, in which the same characters of reference designate the same part throughout the several figures.

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of my sanitary container. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of my sanitary container as seen from line IIII in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan View of my sanitary container. Fig. 4 is a plan Vi w of my sanitary container having the top thereof removed. Fig. 5 is a plan view of my sanitary container having the top thereof and the container proper removed. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the closing element for the opening in my sanitary container showing the closing element therefor. Fig. '7 is a modified form of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the foot pedal and associated parts for operating the parts shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail perspective view of the rear end of the foot pedal lever and the push rod associated therewith. Fig. 10 is a detail side view of a modified form of the rear end of the foot pedal lever and push rod associated therewith. Fig. 11 is a. plan view of Fig. 10, as seen from the line XI-XI in Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a side view of another modified form of the. rear end of the foot pedal lever and push rod associated therewith. Fig. 13 is a plan View of Fig, 12, as seen from the line XIIIX[II in Fig. 12. Fig. 14 is a side view of another modified form of the rear end of the foot pedal lever and push rod associated therewith. Fig. 15 is a rear view of Fig. 14. Fig, 16 is a plan view of Fig. 14 as seen from the line XVI-XVI in Fig. 14. Fig. 1'? is a side view of the lower end of the push rod. Fig. 18 is a side view of the lower end of the push rod, said push rod being turned a quarter turn from that shown in Fig. 1'7. Fig. 19 is a bottom plan view of Fig. 17. Fig. 20 is a detail plan View of the rear end of the foot pedal lever as employed in Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13.

(Cl. ZEN-36) Fig. 21 is a sectional view through the cover cap and wall of the housing showing the locking mechanism between the cover plate and the housing. 22 is a side view of a portion of the cover element and the housing, showing the locking mechanism between these two elements. Figs. 23, 24 and 25 are perspective views showing several of many modified shapes of my sanitary container.

In the drawings is shown a housing element it having a cover element ii, having turned down edges to fit over the upper end of the housing in. The top portion of the cover element is depressed or made in a funnel shape as illustrated at 12, and is provided with a hole 13 in the central portion thereof. At it is a closure element for the hole It which is hinged at I5 to the cover element 12. At It is a depending element It which is integral with the element 14. which engages the L shaped portion H of the push rod [8. At It is a rod carried in bearings 18' which are attached to opposite sides of the housing Iii by being welded thereto or by being otherwise suitably attached thereto, and on the rod I9 is mounted the foot pedal rod 2E8, the outer end of which extends through a slot 2| in the lower portion of the housing in and on the outer end of the foot pedal rod 26 is a foot pedal 22, as shown in Figs. 1, 8 and 9, the inner end of the foot pedal lever 20 is twisted and bent in a U shape 23, the upper portion of which is provided with a hole 24 and the lower portion of which is provided with a slot 25. Passing through the hole 24 is the lower end of the push rod I8, which is provided with a depending flattened portion 26, which is adapted to engage in the slot 25 as a means of preventing the turning of the push rod l8. At 2? is a cotter pin which. is passed through the lower end of the rod H3 as a means of preventing the rod 18 from being removed from the hole 24. At 28 and 28 are outwardly projecting elements attached to opposite sides of the upper portion of the housing Hi and on which rests the flanges 25 of the container can 30, as a means of supporting the container can 30 in the housing ill. The outwardly projecting element 28 is provided with a hole 3|, through which the push rod I8 passes, the hole 3| functioning as a guide for the upper end of the push ro-d l8. The hinge element to is provided with a spring 32 which functions to cause the closure element It to stand in a closed position as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

In Fig. 7 is shown the same elements as shown in Fig. 6 except that weights 33 are attached to the underside of the element it and function to close the cover element M by gravity instead of spring action as shown in Fig. 6.

It will be noticed that the L shaped portion H of the push rod 18 extends over the edge of the container 30 to engage the element l6, therefore the container 30 could not be removed from the housing 10 without striking the L shaped portion I! of the push rod 18 and in order to remove the container 30 it is necessary that the L shaped portion I? be turned sideways as shown in Fig. 5. This is done by taking hold of the L shaped portion I! and lifting it upward, thereby removing the portion 25 of the rod H! from the slot 25 whereupon the L shaped portion I! may be turned in the direction of the arrow A to the position shown in Fig. 5, at which time the container 3!] may be lifted upward and removed from the housing 10. It will be understood that to perform the foregoing operation the cover Hl2 must be removed from the housing 58.

In using this container it is obvious that by placing the foot on the foot pedal 22 and pressing downward thereon, that the foot pedal lever 20 will take the position of the dotted line 23, thereby raising the push rod #8 and causing the element I4 to drop to the dotted position 14, at which time the opening #3 is open and objects may be dropped therethrough and into the container 30, and then by removing the foot from the pedal 22 the foot lever 23 will return to its original position and the element 14 will close the opening l3 by reason of the action of the spring 32 or the weights 33.

It will be noticed that in opening the element Hi there is an upward pressure from the push rod l8 and the L shaped portion I'i thereof against the element l which is attached to the cover portion of the housing H3 and this pressure might tend to raise the cover portion Hl2 from the housing 10, therefore it is necessary to provide some means of holding the cover 11-12 on the housing It]. This is done by providing holes in the portion 1 I of the cover and in the upper portion of the housing [8 so that when the cover ll-l2 is placed on the housing 10, the holes will register with each other.

At 34 are button like elements positioned in the holes just described, said button like elements 34 being mounted on spring leaves 35 the lower end of which are rigidly attached by some suitable means such as welding or the like, to the upper portion of the housing in so that the buttons 34 may be pressed inwardly to release the element H so that the cover element 81-42 may be removed from the housing l0.

As previously explained, it is necessary that the L shaped end 11 of the push rod 18 must be turned sideways in order to remove the container 30. I have shown several connections between the push rod I8 and the pedal lever 26 which will permit this operation. In Fig. is shown the pedal lever 26 having a twisted end 20' and as shown in Fig. 20, the twisted end is provided with two holes 36 and 31. The lower end of the push rod 18 as shown in Figs. 17, 18 and 19 is provided with flattened portions 38 and a downwardly extending pin portion 39, thereby providing shoulders it! on the push rod 18.

In assembling the push rod 18 on the pedal lever portion 20, the pin portion 33 is passed through the hole 36 and the shoulders 40 rest on the portion 23 and the push rod I8 is held in this position by means of a cotter pin 4! which passes through a hole 42 in the pin portion 39. At 43 is a U shaped spring element straddling the push rod l8 and bearing against the flattened sides 38 of the push rod 18, the ends of said spring elements 43 being bent downwardly and passed through the hole 31 in the element 20 as shown in Figs. 10 and 11, the object of said spring element 43 being to hold the push rod 18 from rotating and to retain the L shaped portion 11 in the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and in order to turn the L shaped portions I! for the reasons previously described, all that is necessary to do is to take hold of it and turn it, and the spring 43 will yield to permit the turning of the push rod 18. In Figs. 12 and 13 is shown in a construction similar to that shown in Figs. 10 and 11 except a fiat spring 43 is substituted for the wire spring 43 and the ends of the spring 43' are wrapped around a pin 44 which is rigidly set in the hole 31 of the element 20, and the function of the spring and the operation of turning the push rod is and the L shaped portion I1 is identical with that described for Figs. 10 and 11. In Figs. 14, and 16 is shown another modification of the connection between the push rod 18 and the pedal lever 28 in which the lower end of the push rod I8 is made the same as shown in Figs. 17, 18 and 19. The pedal lever rod as shown in Figs. 14, 15 and 16 is left straight and a spring element 45 is riveted to the side of the lever 20 and a portion of the spring element 45 is bent in an L shape 45' and is provided with a hole to receive the pin 39 on the push rod I8 with the shoulders resting on the portion of the spring 45. The spring 45 rests against one of the fiat sides 38 of the push rod l8 and holds the other fiat side 38 against the pedal lever 20. It will be understood that the hole through which the pin 39 passes, is elongated to permit the movement of the spring 45 when the push rod I8 is turned.

In view of the foregoing description, it is obvious that the container proper 30, may be removed from the housing 10 and sterilized if so desired and then replaced. This feature makes my sanitary container desirable for use in such places as doctors oifices, dentists offices and in such places where unsightly things such as bandages and the like are discarded.

Such modifications may be employed as lie within the scope of the appended claims and having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. In sanitary containers, the combination of an outer stationary housing and an inner removable container supported on parts integral with said housing, a detachable cover element for said housing having a depressed funnel shaped section and a port at the center thereof and a closure element for said port hinged below the funnel shaped section of the cover; and a vertically positioned rod arranged intermediate the container and the housing, a pedal element arranged below the removable container and 'being pivotally mounted within the housing; one end of said rod detachably engaging said closure element for actuating said closure element and the other end of said rod engaging the foot pedal element in such a manner that the rod may be revolved and set at fixed positions.

2. In sanitary containers as in claim 1, and means for normally holding said closure element in a closed position under said port.

3. In sanitary containers as in claim 1, and means for detachably securing said cover element on said housing.

JOHN S. WRIGHT. 

